Battle of Wilson's Creek

The Battle of Wilson's Creek (10 August 1861) was a major battle that occurred in southwestern Missouri, nicknamed "the Bull Run of the West". 12,120 Confederate and Missouri State Guard troops under Sterling Price and Benjamin McCulloch advanced from Arkansas to assist the Missouri secessionists against the Union army, which had deposed Governor Claiborne Fox Jackson and had occupied the state. The 5,430-strong Union army of Nathaniel Banks and the invading Confederate Army of the West met near Springfield at Wilson's Creek, where the Union repeatedly held their line against Confederate assaults. However, Lyon's death in battle led to Samuel D. Sturgis taking command of the army, and he was unable to prevent Franz Sigel's men from routing. The Union army eventually ran out of morale and ammunition, and Sturgis decided to withdraw to Springfield, giving the field to the Confederates. The battle gave control of southwestern Missouri to the Confederacy, and a Confederate convention met at Nesoho in October and proclaimed the unofficial secession of Missouri from the Union.